Improvement in clothes-wringers



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

N. B. PHELPS. Clothes-Wrnger.

No.197,893.v Patented Dec. 4,1877.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

N. B. PAHELPS. Clothes-Wringer.

No. `197,893 Patented Dec. 4,1877.v

NFETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON D C A'itrrtluin` STATES PAT-ENT .OFFICE NAPOLEON B. 1 H'ELrsor NEW YORK, vn. fr.

i lIMPRovlalvlENT' INYCLQTHEs-WRINQERS..

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.f197,893, (lated December 4, 1877; application filedv September 13, 1877.

To all whom t 'may concern:

Be it known that I, NAPOLEON B. PHELPs,

of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Wrin gers and I- do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to clothes-wringing machines; and the nature of my invention consists in the arrangement of the gearing and the clamping device, with a view of making the wringer easy .to operate, strong and durable, and to attach it to a tub or vessel without injuring the same, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth. v

In the annexed drawings, to which reference is made, and which fully illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a clotheswringer, partly in section, embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same through the line w m, Fig. l. Fig. Slis a cross-section through the line y y, Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a rear view of one of the clamping-blocks.

A A representthe slotted side or end pieces of the wringer-frame, connected at the bottom by a curved cross-bar, B, and by another bar, B', at the top. C is the lower roller, having the ends of its shaft a resting in the end pieces A A. D is the upper roller, resting upon the lower roller, and h aving boxes b I) placed in' I 'placed a crank, H, with purchase-gear I, which meshes with av gear, J, upon a counter-shaft,

h, passing through theframe, and having upon its other end a gear-wheel,y K. This latter wheel meshes with a similar wheel, K', 011 that end of the lower roller-shaft a, and this wheel K1 gears with a similarwheel, K2, 'on theend of the upper roller-shaft d. lThe gears 1K K1 Kz may be made in the double formshown, or

of any other suitable construction that-will the separation of the rollers, which is necessary in wringing clothing, has no effect whatever on the driving and its connecting gear; and, by applying the power to the rollers on the end of the wringer opposite that to which the driving or purchase gear is attached, I am enabled to place the crank-gear and its connecting-gear close up to the frame, which is a decided advantage.

When gears for connecting the rollers are placed on the same end of the'wringer as the purchase or driving gear, and between the latter and the frame, the purchase-gear is necessarily an inch or more away from the frame, which arrangement has proven defective, inasmuch as the great power of the purchasegear springs the shaft and causes the purchasegear and its connectinggear on the countershaft to slip gear 5 but my arrangement, in placing the driving-gearing Vclose up to the wringer-frame, entirely obviatcs this difficulty.

The clamping device for the clothcs-wringer is constructed in the following manner: In the center, on the concave side of the lower connecting-bar B, is attached a curved block or pad, L', which may, however, be made in one piece with said bar B. At each end of this block L' is a movable block or pad,y L, of corresponding curvature, forming, when drawn back on line with the same, one continuous horizontal segmentof a circle. Each pad or block L has a longitudinal groove on the back, lover which is placed a slotted plate, P. In this plate is swiveled the end of a set-screw, S, which screws throughl a nutimbeddedin the bar B. This allows the pad to adjust itself to any curvature of tub horizontally, and, to prevent the pad from `turning on the screw,

it is provided with -a hinged guide-pin, R, whiri extends rearward through a hole in the bar This arrangement of the clamping-pads admits of their being made principally of wood, which is much cheaper than metal. Moreover, the wood is not as liable to bruise the tub or vessel as metal clamps.

When the curved clamp is extended the whole length of the wringer of course it ts but one size of a tub, and in attaching the wringer to any sized tub other than the exact circle of the clamp the staves of the tub are pressed from their proper position with more -or less injury to the tub, while my adjustable pads readily adapt themselves to a vessel havingfstraight sides, or to a tub of any size or curvature, without any injury whatever to the same.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a wringing-machine, of a purchase driving-gear attached to a crank,

and mounted and revolving independently v NAPOLEON B. PHELPS.

Witnesses M. C. MEssERv, W. R. MGGULLOUGH. g 

